Posts tagged ‘Zapatistas’

With so many of their comrades having being murdered by people who are never punished, or else get exonerated and released (like the ones who committed the Acteal massacre), Zapatistas know about corruption in the capitalistic judicial system.

They know about comrades being arrested under false charges, tortured, forced to sign false confession statements, judged by corrupted judges and serving lifetime condemns for crimes they did not commit.

Criminals like the brother of Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, accused of drug smuggling and unlawful enrichment (more than $120 millions US DOLLARS), has just been exonerated of all his crimes two weeks ago, while rural Zapatista teacher Alberto Patishtán still serves an illegal sentence for crimes he did not commit.

So Zapatistas know about justice being bought. That’s why they developed mechanisms to create a judicial system that is not about money.

In the fourth class on Freedom According to Zapatistas, they talked about how their system avoids favoritism and bribes.

The Zapatista Freedom School online got started this Monday! The first session was on autonomy. “We know that autonomy is a dream, an utopia for some people, but in here it is a reality for us. We are already exercising autonomy, and what we can tell about autonomy is that there is no recipe for it. You should not ask for freedom to the government, you should exercise your freedom. We have seen that it is possible.”

Seven Zapatistas talked to the participants online for two hours. Then, after a 15 mins break, they answered questions.

They first talked about the seven principles of their government:

1. To lead by obeying

2. To represent; not to impersonate

3. To work from below and not seeking to rise

4. To serve; not to self-serve

5. To persuade; not to conquer

6. To construct; not to destroy

7. To propose; not to impose

“To us, the government is a body that provides a service to the people, not a way to make money for yourself.”